Alastair Cook: England great left-hand batsman to retire from cricket after fifth Test vs india

       

England's highest Test run-scorer Alastair Cook will retire from international cricket after this week's final Test against India.  

Cook is England’s most-capped player and has captained the team in an English record 59 Tests and 69 ODIs. He is the leading run-scorer in Test matches for England, and the youngest player to complete 12,000 Test runs (the 6th overall and the only Englishman). Cook has scored a record 32 Test centuries for England and is the first England player to take part in 50 Test victories. A left-handed opening batsman, he normally fields at first slip.

Matches: 160 Tests

Runs:12,254 runs

100's:32

Alastair cook said "I have achieved more than I could have ever imagined and feel very privileged to have played for such a long time alongside some of the greats of the English game."

"Although it is a sad day, I can do so with a big smile on my face knowing I have given everything.

"The thought of not sharing the dressing room, again, with some of my team-mates was the hardest part of my decision, but I know the timing is right.

"I have loved cricket my whole life, from playing in the garden as a child, and will never underestimate how special it is to pull on an England shirt.

"So I know it is the right time to give the next generation of young cricketers their turn to entertain us and feel the immense pride that comes with representing your country."

Six of the best - Cook's greatest Test innings

• 104* v India, Nagpur, 2006: Flown in from West Indies to make his Test debut, Cook followed his first-innings 60 with a brilliant unbeaten century to secure a draw. It was obvious Cook and Test cricket were a perfect match.
• 235* v Australia, Brisbane, 2010: The first Test of the Ashes against a dominant Australia side. England trailed by 221 on first innings. No matter to Cook, who batted for the best part of two days, taking England to a scarcely believable 517-1 declared and setting the tone for a rare series win down under.
• 294 v India, Edgbaston, 2011: Cook's highest Test score, and one central to England's innings-and-242-run win. That it came after he had managed only 20 runs in his first four innings of the series said everything about Cook's character.
• 190 v India, Kolkata, 2012: After scoring 176 and 122 in the first two Tests, captain Cook hit 190 in the third. A 23rd Test hundred made him England's record centurion and helped England win in India for the first time since 1985.
• 95 v India, Southampton, 2014: England had been thumped 5-0 in Australia. They had just lost at home to Sri Lanka. Cook had not scored a century in 27 innings. Calls for him to stand down were growing louder by the day. He may not have made it to three figures, but he received a standing ovation for playing what he claimed was the most pressurised innings of his career. England won the series and he remained as skipper.
• 263 v Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, 2015: If ever an innings defined Cook's career, this is it. Showing all his fabled concentration and patience, Cook batted for almost 14 hours in the desert heat - the third longest Test innings in history. Only bad light prevented England from pulling off a remarkable victory.